Mumbai: The BMC has imposed penalties totalling Rs 9.25 crore on contractors engaged in pre-monsoon drain-cleaning works after its Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based monitoring system detected multiple irregularities and deficiencies in execution.The penalty amount is being recovered from the contractors pending bills, said civic officials on Saturday. The action follows AI analysis of photographs and videos uploaded by contractors as part of the civic body’s digital monitoring mechanism introduced to improve accountability in desilting operations.According to the BMC, the AI system flagged several violations, including reuse of images, failure to upload mandatory unloading videos, mismatches between registered vehicles and work codes, missing photographs, and irregularities during silt transportation and disposal. Physical inspections also revealed inadequate deployment of machinery and manpower, non-provision of safety gear to workers, improper disposal of excavated silt and delays in completing work as per schedule.Additional municipal commissioner (projects) Abhijit Bangar said the BMC follows a “zero tolerance” policy towards lapses in drain-cleaning works. “Whether the deficiencies are intentional or inadvertent, they are unacceptable. Technology has enabled us to identify shortcomings and fix accountability,” he said.Of the total penalty, Rs 8.99 crore pertains to deficiencies detected through the AI system, including Rs 1.39 crore for major drains, Rs 6.11 crore for minor drains and Rs 1.48 crore for the Mithi river works. An additional Rs 26.46 lakh penalty has been imposed at the rate of Rs 1,000 for each deficient trip. A deficient trip is when a vehicle is not covered properly or if the silt is leaking from the vehicle. The civic body found 2,600 such trips.This year, the BMC floated a Rs 30-crore tender for desilting the Mithi River during the monsoon, with the contract period set at one year. The move came a year after corruption allegations crippled the desilting exercise last year, with contractors abandoning work midway. As a result, barely 60% of the river-cleaning work could be completed last monsoon. In case of most major drain cleaning work, a two year contract issued last year continued this year as well.Every year before the monsoon, the BMC’s Storm Water Drains Department desilts major drains, while responsibility for cleaning minor drains lies with the ward offices. Desilting helps improve rainwater drainage during the monsoon.Desilting work must be documented in three phases which is before starting, during execution and after completion. Each phase must be captured by appointed contractors with date, time, latitude and longitude (real-time geo-tagging), and uploaded to the designated software platform by the contractor.Additionally, data must be recorded regarding the storage site for collected silt, empty dumpers before loading, loaded dumpers after filling, and the weight measurements—automatically logged into the system without human interference. Information about silt-transporting vehicles, their registration numbers, and times of arrival at disposal sites must also be maintained. CCTV surveillance will be set up at dumping grounds to track all vehicle movement.
